Design and Simulation of a Cooperative Robotics System for Exploration and Transportation Tasks

Expansion of mobile robotics into new action fields introduces challenges for which multiple robot systems become an interesting option given the need for fault tolerance and maximizing performance (runtime, energy consumption) in highly complex tasks. This paper describes the current state of development of a collaborative multi-agent system (MAS) which integrates three distinct architectures built using the Robotis Bioloid educational robotics platform: a humanoid, a gripper-equipped vehicle, and a wheel-legged hybrid mobile robot. Simplified CAD models are imported into Webots simulation software, where separate controllers for each architecture are developed, as well as a supervisor controller which commands coordination of behaviors and tasks that each robot must execute. Preliminary results demonstrate lower path execution precision for the humanoid and vehicle compared to the hybrid. Thus, several distributed control strategies are evaluated and implemented for transportation tasks, which require high synchronization between all agents